


Christmas Concussion; Or, Michael vs Jukebox

by faequeentitania



Series: Beyond the Diner [8]
Category: Cracked - Ambiguous Fandom, Cracked.com, Cracked: After Hours
Genre: Affection, Christmas, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Memories, Multi, OT4, Open Relationships, Polyamory, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-02 07:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8658532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faequeentitania/pseuds/faequeentitania
Summary: Michael was an accident waiting to happen. The sheer number of hours they've spent accompanying him to the emergency room was staggering. And without fail, it always stirred up feelings Katie would really rather suppress.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure fluff and I apologize for nothing.

Michael was an accident waiting to happen. He was clumsy, he was reckless, he was far more confident in his own physical abilities than any rational human. And to top it all off, his ridiculous height and long, gangly limbs made it akin to controlling a colt with ADHD. Or maybe a giraffe.

So it wasn't surprising to anyone whenever they would spend some part of their week and/or weekend accompanying Michael to the emergency room.

Whether it was taking drugs from strangers, burning himself while making breakfast for them, or headbutting the jukebox, there always seemed to be some level of emergency with Michael.

Katie was mostly used to it by now. Michael was the kind of guy who had probably done dangerous tricks on the playground as a kid, just to try to impress a girl. He was definitely the type of guy who had climbed out of dorm room windows in college, and risked getting arrested doing something stupid just because he could. It was just another facet of his weird, eccentric personality.

That still didn't mean she was thrilled whenever she had to spend 5+ hours in the waiting room of the local hospital, or her whole weekend taking turns with Daniel and Soren to make sure their idiot friend didn't slip into a coma and die from a head injury.

The part that was the most difficult for her to deal with, though, was always what Michael’s injuries brought out in them.

They would tease and antagonize each other all the time, but the truth of the matter was they would take a bullet for each other in a heartbeat, and they all knew it. Seeing one of their own hurt, even if it was his own dumb doing, just served to remind her how far down this rabbit hole she had fallen.

They were a long way from her and Michael’s disastrous first (and only) official “date.” They were both atrocious at bowling, she had no idea why they thought it would be fun. She ended up taking her frustration at the stupid game out on him, in the form of angry sex in the backseat of her car in the bowling alley parking lot. She realized how much of a mistake that was when she had to take a restraining order out on him later; after discovering that he had broken into her campus apartment to leave creepy dick pics under her pillow.

Michael was just too weird, too persistent; she couldn’t handle his intensity. She maintained a casual friendship with him through necessity; they had too many of the same friends in common for her to avoid him completely, and things mellowed out after a while. She still maintained the provision in the restraining order that he couldn’t get near her place of residence, but seeing each other in public spaces was fine.

Then he invited her to do some comedy sketches for Those Aren’t Muskets, and a couple years and circumstances later she was working with him at Cracked.

Michael became this strange fixture in her life, this unintentional touchstone that she couldn’t imagine being without. He was still weird and occasionally creepy, but she watched him evolve from a kooky 20 year old to an adult that she actually enjoyed spending time with. (Mostly. There were still plenty of times where she wanted to strangle him, but she took comfort in the fact that Soren and Daniel felt the same way.)

Whenever Michael got hurt, she was reminded of just how strong that connection to him was. It was a connection that was reflected in Daniel and Soren too, which she somehow seemed to forget a lot; this uniting affection they all had for their weird, reckless friend.

She thought about all of this as she leaned against the doorway of Michael’s room. Daniel was propped up against the headboard with some pillows, dressed down to just his undershirt and pants, his feet bare. He was holding a book in one hand and the other was resting on Michael’s back. Michael himself was laying on his belly, arms tucked up under his pillow and snoring lightly. Silently she watched Daniel’s hand rise and fall slightly with each slow, steady breath Michael took, only moving it away periodically to turn to the next page of his book.

She had been standing there for a couple minutes, just watching. Daniel had nodded acknowledgement when she first appeared, but seemed to be engrossed back in his book now.

Monitoring Michael’s concussion was certainly not how she expected to be spending the weekend before Christmas, but none of them had hesitated for even a moment before deciding that they would.

She felt Soren’s presence behind her, and she looked over her shoulder at him as he pressed up against her back and looped an arm around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and she gave him a small smile as she put her hand on his arm.

“Alright?” he asked quietly, and she nodded, turning back to Michael and Daniel. Daniel was looking up from his book, eyebrows raised questioningly.

“Just checking in,” Soren said softly, “Everything ok?”

Daniel nodded, and Soren returned the gesture.

“How’s he doing?” he jerked his chin at Michael, and Daniel shrugged.

“Seems ok,” he said in a whisper, “Think we should wake him?”

“Probably,” Soren answered, “It’s been a couple of hours.”

Daniel nodded again before putting his bookmark in his book and putting it aside. Katie stepped forward out of Soren’s embrace and sat down on Michael’s other side, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Michael,” she called softly, “Michael, sweetie, wake up.”

Michael snuffled but didn't wake, and Daniel returned his hand to Michael’s back, rubbing gently.

“Wake up, Mike,” He said coaxingly, and Michael finally stirred.

“M’sleepy,” he complained, “Whaddya wan’?”

“To make sure you’re not brain-dead, asshole,” Soren said gruffly, and Katie shot him a murderous look.

“M’not brain dead,” Michael sighed, “Can I go back t’sleep now?”

“Nope,” Katie sighed, “You have to open your eyes, Michael. I need to take a look, remember?”

“My pupils are fine,” Michael grumbled, and Daniel chortled.

“You got mirrors on the inside of your eyelids, now?”

“Yes,” Michael huffed indignantly, and her and Daniel shared an amused but exasperated look. If Michael was capable of being bratty he was probably fine, but she wanted to be sure anyway.

She tossed her glasses on the nightstand before shuffling down to lay next to him. She put her face up close to his, pressing their foreheads together.

“Michael,” she said softly, “Open your eyes for me, and I'll give you a kiss.”

Michael chortled with a little smirk, “Is that all I get?”

“At the moment, yes,” she said sternly, “The doctor said no activity that will get your heart rate up.”

He sighed dramatically, and Katie kissed the tip of his nose, “Come on, Michael, three seconds, then you can go back to sleep.”

Michael rolled onto his side and wrapped his arm around her, snuggling against her before finally cooperating and opening his eyes.

He squinted a little, even in the dim light of the single lamp Daniel had been reading by, but his pupils were both normal sized and even.

“Good boy,” she said quietly, leaning in and giving him a kiss, and Michael sighed contently, his arm squeezing a little tighter around her.

“Go back to sleep,” she encouraged gently, “We’ll be here when you wake up.”

“M’kay,” he sighed, his eyes closed again and arm heavy around her body.

 _Guess I'm here for a while,_ she thought with amusement, Michael showing no sign of letting her go for the foreseeable future. She couldn't honestly say that she minded, really. Michael was cozy warm, and the little bit of extra weight he had put on recently actually made him really, really nice to cuddle.

She reached up and stroked her hand through his hair, being very careful to avoid the tender spot he had hit. His hair was really shaggy at the moment, and she enjoyed running her fingers through the brown strands.

He made a little sound of contentment, and she smirked. Michael was like a big cat; he loved to be pet and would practically turn into putty whenever anyone did it. It was an advantage she was starting to use more regularly, and she actually enjoyed it almost as much as he did.

She glanced to the side, sensing a gaze on her, and found Daniel watching them both. His expression was fond, and it made her heart feel tight. Sometimes she feared the rabbit hole she could feel herself falling down when it came to these boys. The affection that snuck up on her sometimes that felt distinctly different than the kind one directed at just friends. She could see it reflected in Daniel, knew he was falling down the same hole, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that.

They made eye contact and Daniel gave her a gentle smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. She held her hand out to him, inviting him to lay down with them. He tossed his glasses on top of his book before laying down on Michael’s other side.

Michael hummed happily, half asleep and clearly perfectly content to be sandwiched between them. Daniel draped his arm over Michael, his hand resting on the side of Katie’s ribcage.

It was warm and cozy and she could feel herself heading very easily for sleep as well.

Suddenly she felt Soren sit on the bed behind her, and she could hear the quiet shush of fabric that told her he was pulling off his sweater and unbuttoning his shirt. She smiled as he pressed tight against her back, his arm reaching across her to curl his hand around Daniel’s elbow.

It was a tight squeeze on Michael’s queen mattress, but she honestly didn't mind. Maybe it was all the holiday sentiment, but she was particularly grateful for the weird little family she had fallen into, even if Michael was a walking accident waiting to happen.

She could feel herself drifting off, lulled by Michael’s slow, even breathing.

Definitely not what she thought she'd be doing the weekend before Christmas, but she was pretty sure there was no better company to spend it with.


End file.
